This prompted the bench to ask why the government had not informed about the ‘missing’ files in October 2014, when it had passed an order appointing retired Judge J A Patil to probe alleged irregularities in the allotment of flats under the discretionary housing quota since 1982.

To this, the prosecutor said the officers concerned were not aware of the missing files that time.

Not satisfied with the answer, the bench said the only way to solve the problem would be to take contempt action against the guilty.

The prosecutor further informed the court that 1,200 beneficiaries had surrendered flats on account of irregularities or in cases of double allotment of houses.

Besides, police had taken action against 300 such beneficiaries, he said.

“This shows the magnitude of the irregularities,” the bench remarked.

1,200 houses are now available to the government for allotment to people, the Judges said adding that they had passed orders on the PIL earlier as the government had not taken any action on the alleged irregularities.

Though the probe has not concluded, many beneficiaries have surrendered the flats allotted to them. “This shows that maximum allotments were illegal,” the bench said.

The prosecutor handed over reports given by the Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development departments to the court for its perusal.